To obtain a card at no charge, you must show proof of identity and of residency or individual ownership of property within the town of Southern Pines. A valid driver’s license, utility bill, or tax notice with your name and current street address are acceptable. After an application form is completed, the card will be issued and may be used immediately.

There is a checkout limit of two Book Club Kits and three DVDs, except for those DVDs in the special collection, which are limited to one at a time per cardholder. There are no limits on other types of materials, however, if you are working on a school assignment, please be considerate of others who may be researching the same topic.

All materials except for DVDs in the Special Collection may be kept for three weeks. The DVDs in the special collection have particular significance and check out is limited to one at a time per card holder, for a maximum of three days, with no opportunity to renew. Patrons may check out three regular DVDs along with one special collection DVD.

All materials except for DVDs in the special collection may be renewed once unless another patron has requested the item or you have reached the fine limit. Each renewal period is three weeks. You may renew books by telephone when the library is open. Please be prepared to give your library card number and the titles of the books you wish to renew. You may renew online, also.

You may place a hold on items which are unavailable and be notified by email or text (there is a charge of $0.43 for the postage of the hold card, if you choose to be notified by mail.) Books may also be requested from other libraries through the Interlibrary Loan system. The charge per item is determined by the return postage cost.

When you register for your card, you will be asked to choose a personal identification number (PIN) / confirmation number. Your card number and PIN are used to: sign up for computers in the library; put funds into an account to use for printing at library computers; view your account, place holds on items, and renew materials online; and access subscription online resources from the library’s website.

You can place hold requests via the Internet as long as you have a valid library card and a personal identification number (PIN). To place a hold, search for the title(s) of interest in the library catalog. When the title is displayed, select the “Place Hold” button. The request form will be displayed. After entering your library card number and PIN, select the “Submit Hold” button. To ensure that you get the next available item, make sure to keep the "I want the first available copy" option selected.

A personal identification number (PIN) consists of four numbers that have meaning for you and are easy for you to remember. Having a PIN will enable you to access your library account online, renew items, and place holds on materials. If you have never chosen a PIN, library staff must assist you the first time, either in person or over the telephone. Because your account information is confidential, you must provide your card number.

The Southern Pines Public Library (SPPL) has a service that allows you to sign up for notifications for your library account. Cardholders can get these notifications via email or text. This means that cardholders will now have the option of having email or text messages sent to remind them when items are due or overdue, and to notify them when items on hold have arrived or been canceled.

If you are interested in these services, speak to a circulation specialist in the library, send an email, or call the Library at 910-692-8235.

There are several reasons why your email notifications may not be working. One reason may be due to your email provider. Some email accounts automatically place emails in a spam or junk folder. Check both of these folders in your email account if you are not getting your notices.

Another reason may be due to a technical glitch with Yahoo. Patrons using Yahoo as their email provider may have troubles getting email notifications due to this glitch between our email service and Yahoo. We have not found a solution for this issue at the current time.

A final reason may be because your email notices have been canceled. See "Why has by email notification been canceled?" below.

"Authorizing" the OverDrive app allows you to download DRM-protected ebooks. The OverDrive app requires you to sign in when you first open the app, which automatically authorizes it. If you'd like, you can change your authorization (after you sign in) to use an Adobe ID instead. View the Overdrive help article.

If you've tried downloading an audiobook to the app Bookshelf, but you get a prompt saying part 1 isn't downloaded, use the steps in this Help article to manually start downloading its files. View the Overdrive help article.

With our new MobilePrint Service™, you can use your personal computer or mobile device to print to the library’s printers from anywhere. Simply submit documents for printing and come to the library to release and pick up your document using your library card. If you do not have a library card, please see a library staff member to pay for your print jobs (.15¢ black & white and .25¢ color).